In Rebecca Miller's The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, Alan Arkin's plays Herb, a retiring Lothario who woos a beautiful wild child (played at two ages by Blake Lively and Robin Wright), then stands idly by as she becomes domesticized (and anesthetized) in an attempt to please him. It's the juiciest part he's had in quite a while, and as Arkin freely admits, he didn't want it. The 75-year-old is as prolific as he's ever been since winning the Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, but he's also choosy, and he's got a very particular set of criteria for picking roles that Miller had to adapt to in order to win him over.
In a wry interview with Movieline, Arkin expanded on that criteria and also provided unexpected, helpful tips for bloodstain removal. Who says his range has to be saved for the screen?
So in this film, you romance Robin Wright, Blake Lively, Monica Bellucci, Winona Ryder...
They come after me! [Laughs] They all come after me.
Are these the perks that come with winning an Oscar?
I think I made this pre-Oscar. Did I? I have no idea when I shot it. [His publicist interjects, "You filmed it after. You did it after Get Smart."] Then it must be. God, I don't remember. That's the privilege of old age: You don't have to remember.
Have you gotten to play very many romantic characters?
I haven't in general, no. Almost none. I mean, my God, to have four of the most beautiful women in the world running after me? How can you say no!
Was it interesting for you to play opposite Pippa at two ages, played by two different actresses?
Yeah, but you don't go around thinking that. I was working with two different actresses, and just as in life, when you meet somebody after having not seen them for twenty years, you might as well be seeing a different person. How do you play, "This is the same person"? You're just playing the relationship at the moment that it is.
When he first meets Pippa, she's kind of a wild child, but later in life, she's floating in this domestic haze. How complicit is Herb in that.
Oh, totally! I think he did a good thing -- he probably saved her life at that point -- but I don't think he did it for good reasons. I think it was a selfish Pygmalion syndrome, and she tried her best to become what he wanted her to be, but she just didn't have it in her. To me, it's a wonderful sense of the masks we put on to find out what we think we are. It never works.
It's interesting that he's a publisher, because even with women, it's as though he's scouting for new talent and then editing them.
Yeah, it's a way of thinking he's staying young. It's what all older people do who are not facing mortality. It's demented in a way, I guess, but it's part and parcel of what our civilization has turned into. There's no reference for old people! There was a big sociological study done about twenty years ago on the cultures of the world where the people have the greatest longevity, and they couldn't find a common thread. They looked at diet, they looked at climate, they looked at living conditions...they couldn't find a commonality until they realized that the cultures with the oldest people in the world were the cultures who revered old people. It was that simple, but nobody saw it until the last minute.
Do you feel more revered as an older actor?
Me? Revered? I think people are finally getting used to me a little bit. I've been working pretty steadily over the years. You hit a certain age and you haven't died yet, and you become an elder statesman. I think I get a lot of applause because I'm not keeling over.
Were you conscious of when that transition happened?
No. Well, I do know that I never got hit on in my life, women never hit on me until about twelve years ago. It was happening right and left -- and I got pissed off!
Why did it take so long?
I have no idea! I think I was more benign. My reaction was to get mad -- I said, "Where the hell were you thirty years ago?"
What made you nervous about taking the role?
I just don't like to play people I don't like. It was originally written that he was a lot colder and cooler, and it just didn't appeal to me. I talked to Rebecca and I gave her some ideas that she got excited about -- they weren't mammoth changes but they made him a little more fun so that when he does his dirty work, it's more potent. It enabled me to enjoy him more, because if I'm not enjoying a character, I just can't do it.
Was there a role you had that crystallized that for you?
Oh yeah, Wait Until Dark. I hated it. I had never played a heavy before, and I hated being mean to Audrey Hepburn. I remember that a lot of people that I really admired said, "You gotta take the role." So I bit the bullet, even though it wasn't something I wanted to do.
Have you passed on some juicy villains?
I don't remember what I pass on. All I can say is if the part doesn't delight me in some way, or I can't feel any compassion for it, I just can't do it.
I was going to ask: It's the fortieth anniversary of Sesame Street, and you were on it for a little while when it first began--
This year's also the fiftieth anniversary of Second City, which I had a lot more experience with than Sesame Street. I don't remember anything about Sesame Street.
Did you ever think you'd see a fiftieth anniversary of Second City?
Well, I was at the fortieth anniversary, and...[He looks down at a stain on his shirt] That better not be blood. That better not be blood! [He rises, wets a cloth, and dabs at it] Do you know how to get blood out of things now?
You were in Sunshine Cleaning. I should be asking you!
[Laughing] Look at this wet spot. Now, that's attractive, right? I was reading about WD40. Is that the name? WD40 gets blood out of clothes.
I don't think I knew that.
And you thought this would be a normal interview. What were we talking about?
When you went to the fortieth anniversary of Second City.
Oh yeah! When we went there -- those of us who were still ambulatory from the first company -- we got up on stage and got a standing ovation. We stood there with our mouths open, looking at each other, and we all had exactly the same thought: "We went there to survive!" We didn't think we'd make a dime -- we had nowhere else to go, and we didn't know we were forming anything. To think that it's turned into a dynasty is really extraordinary. Something like two-thirds of the comic talent of the western world has come out of that place.
Was there something pivotal you took from your experience there?
Just being there was a lesson because we were allowed to fail. The audience came every night knowing that thirty or forty percent of what they would see wasn't gonna work, and it was fine. Nobody minded, and every time you failed was a tremendous learning experience. You cant do that anymore, anywhere. You're not allowed to fail.
Because there's too much scrutiny?
Yeah. Because everyone's looking at the bottom line. Nobody gives a damn if you develop and grow or not, except your sensei, maybe.
I don't know if you heard, but they're developing Gattaca as a TV series now. That's one of my favorite films you had a small role in.
They're developing it as a series? Hmm.
It's kind of a crime procedural.
Really! Interesting. It seems to have grown since it came out. I thought the premise was wonderful.
You don't have any future projects on your plate right now. Are you doing Get Smart 2 anytime soon?
I don't know, but man, I hope so.
You had a lot of fun on the first one?
A lot of fun.
Does that go back to what you were saying earlier, that you want to play characters that you enjoy?
Well, I think it rubs off on every actor. if you're playing a negative character, sooner or later, it rubs off on you. Some people don't mind living in that state, but I don't want to be there anymore. [Laughs] I don't want to live in a state of depression.